Polymerizable (meth)acrylic acids undesirably polymerize during various stages of the manufacturing, processing, handling, storage and use thereof. One especially troublesome problem is the polymerization of (meth)acrylic acid monomer in the purification stages of monomer production. It is well known that the monomers readily polymerize and that such polymerization increases with concurrent temperature increases.
Common industrial methods for producing (meth)acrylic acids include a variety of purification processes, including distillation, to remove impurities. Unfortunately, purification operations carried out at elevated temperatures result in an increased rate of undesired polymerization. Polymerization, such as thermal polymerization, during the monomer purification process, results not only in loss of desired monomer end-product, but also in loss of production efficiency caused by polymer formation or agglomeration on process equipment. In heat requiring operations, such agglomeration adversely affects heat transfer efficiency.